Thursday 29 December: One way for overcharged energy customers to take back control

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

575 thoughts on “Thursday 29 December: One way for overcharged energy customers to take back control”

  2. ‘Morning, Peeps.  Our trip to West Sussex yesterday to see old friends was just about the wettest I can remember for many years.  Lots of flooding on side roads and in two places the streams or rivers were taking short cuts across the roads.  Flooded fields in so many places, too.  However, today it would seem that the sky is about to run out of rain for now, and instead we will have sunshine all day!

    This DT article appeared late yesterday and I suspect that many on here will readily agree with it:

    BBC guilty of ‘rewriting British history’ to promote woke agenda in ‘biased’ documentaries

    Broadcaster failing in its duty of impartiality by allowing ‘politically motivated campaigners’ to present shows, say leading academics

    By Gordon Rayner, ASSOCIATE EDITOR 28 December 2022 • 9:00pm

    The BBC is “rewriting British history to promote a woke agenda”, a group of the country’s leading academics has warned, as they cited multiple examples of “bias” in its documentaries.

    A report said the BBC was failing in its duty of impartiality by allowing “politically motivated campaigners” to present “tendentious” views of British history as fact.

    Lord Roberts, the author and broadcaster, accused the BBC of pursuing a “fatwa” against Sir Winston Churchill. The dossier said documentaries on subjects including slavery, colonialism and the Irish famine distort the truth about Britain’s past through inaccuracy or omitting important facts.

    Marie Kawthar Daouda, a lecturer at Oxford University, said the BBC needs to “stop apologising” for Britain’s history. Jeremy Black, the former professor of history at Exeter University, said the BBC was guilty of “systemic failure” through an inability to present a rounded picture of the past.

    The report was compiled by History Reclaimed, whose co-editors are David Abulafia and Robert Tombs – both of whom are professors emeritus at Cambridge University. Supporters of the organisation include Lord Chartres, the former bishop of London; Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at King’s College, London; Niall Ferguson, the broadcaster and fellow of Stanford University, and Lawrence Goldman, emeritus fellow of St Peter’s College, Oxford.

    A midterm review of the BBC’s royal charter, launched by the then culture secretary Nadine Dorries earlier this year, is currently examining whether the corporation needs to be reformed to help it achieve greater impartiality.

    The authors of the report, titled Can We Trust The BBC With Our History?, called on the BBC to tighten its editorial guidelines and set up an advisory panel of historians to reduce “groupthink” among programme makers.

    Programmes highlighted in the dossier include The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, in which the comedian visits Freetown in Sierra Leone and discusses Britain’s role in the slave trade, without mentioning that the city – so-called because it was the destination of freed slaves – was set up by the British.

    A current affairs programme suggested the Bengal famine of 1943 was a consequence of racism on the part of Churchill, despite the fact that Britain sent large shipments of food to the Indian region in the face of wartime food shortages.

    Lord Roberts described it as an example of a “fatwa” he says the BBC has been conducting against Churchill for years, while Zareer Masani, a historian of Indian heritage, said he was “appalled” by the BBC’s claims.

    Meanwhile, an episode of the archaeology series Digging for Britain aired a claim that British policy during the 19th century Irish potato famine amounted to the “extermination” of a people and that aid was refused – even though prime minister Robert Peel ordered the purchase of American maize to feed 500,000 people in Ireland and ruined his career by suspending the Corn Laws to allow untaxed imports.

    The report also criticised Enslaved with Samuel L Jackson as well as a BBC Radio 4 documentary about Sarah Forbes Benetta, one of the only black women in Victorian high society.

    A spokesman for History Reclaimed said: “Abuse of history for political purposes is as old as history itself. In recent years, we have seen politically motivated campaigns to rewrite British history in a way that undermines the solidarity of our communities, our sense of achievement, even our very legitimacy.

    “The BBC, of all institutions, should never accept as fact arguments put forward by politically motivated campaigners. Sadly, it appears that tendentious and provocative arguments seem to be given preference, and they have often been relayed without proper concern for accuracy.

    “At their best, the BBC’s programmes are of high quality and are widely praised. But regrettably, it seems that the BBC, for all its merits, does not always respect the objectives set out in its charter and its claim to be strictly impartial.”

    Prof Tombs, co-editor of History Reclaimed, said: “The report identifies a pattern of failure by the BBC that points unmistakably to conscious or unconscious bias.”

    Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, director of the anti-racism group Don’t Divide Us, said: “When a public institution such as the BBC helps normalise a radically critical, minoritarian view of Britain’s history, it makes the possibility of a culture-in-common for a nation’s citizens – old, new, and yet to be – more difficult. This is not a public service.”

    A BBC spokesman said: “We place the greatest importance on accuracy and bring audiences a breadth of viewpoints, perspectives and analysis across thousands of hours of news, current affairs and factual programming, covering a range of historical topics.

    “Across the entirety of our output there will, of course, be occasions when people disagree with or want to challenge what they have watched or heard and we have well publicised routes for them to do that.

    “Cherry-picking a handful of examples or highlighting genuine mistakes in thousands of hours of output on TV and radio does not constitute analysis and is not a true representation of BBC content.”

    Commentary: BBC should build unity around British history, not slander it

    By Marie Kawthar Daouda

    The BBC has a glorious past. For French or American audiences, BBC adaptations of Shakespeare and Dickens are canonical. But why should a national broadcasting corporation be ashamed of being British?

    We hear so much about the evil deeds of the British Empire, but an episode of History of Africa dedicated to the British involvement in the ending of slave trade is yet to be seen. In the meantime, The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan fails to mention that between 1808 and 1860 alone, The West African Squadron captured 1,600 slave ships and freed over 150,000 African slaves.

    We have heard a lot recently about the Benin Bronzes and their restitution but, in its coverage of the question, the BBC systematically failed to mention that these objects, work of enslaved hands, were seized in 1897 as an act of retaliation after the massacre of an unarmed party of British envoys and a large number of their African bearers, and that the following British expedition put an end to slave trading in Benin.

    The way the BBC depicts British history might be the only way many people ever will access this past, and this inaccurate, biased and divisive slandering of the Empire will not do much good.

    The BBC claims to be committed to reflecting the diversity of Britain. Promoting diversity of skin tone is a rather cheap substitute for diversity of opinion. In 2020, quotas were announced as targets for 2023 – 50 per cent women; at least 20 per cent black, Asian, or minority ethnic; and 12 per cent disabled.

    As for ethnicity targets, are potential employees supposed to take a genetic test to qualify for one of the first categories? Britain is diverse, and so far, it has become inclusive by allowing skilled people, regardless of sex or skin tone, to make use of their talents in all sectors. The quota policy is inherently divisive and nurtures a victimhood mentality, while obfuscating hard work, personal achievements, and merit.

    There is no shame in promoting a shared British identity. In its early years, BBC radio was shaped as a polite, slightly high-brow, family-friendly universe, more keen on creating a national British cohesion than on reflecting regional particularities.

    During the Second World War, this national dimension took on much greater importance. Addresses from Winston Churchill or George Orwell kept people informed of the situation but, more importantly, gave the audience something to look forward to, and thus created a sense of togetherness.

    For the French, “L’appel du 18 Juin 1940”, when Charles de Gaulle stood as the leader of the Free French, was a beacon of hope. And in October that year, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret spoke during the Children’s Hour, telling them that “all shall be well in the end”.

    Family, faith, and tradition are realities shared by many Britons of various skin tones, and understood by the vast majority of humanity. Many, in Britain and abroad, regardless of faith or ethnicity, will join in to watch the Carol Service and for the King’s Speech.

    If Britain’s national broadcasting institution does not respect British identity, why would other countries? Building unity around British history and tradition is sorely needed – and the BBC could and should help to create it.

    Marie Kawthar Daouda is stipendiary lecturer in French at Oriel College, University of Oxford.

    * * *

    PS  Ranganathan must surely be the only person who thinks he is funny.  Of course, I think we can say with some certainty that he’s only there for one reason, as I can see no other excuse to justify his continued existence.

    This BTL poster is spot on in my opinion:

    Jim Morrissey43 MIN AGO

    The BBC’s MO is to leave out information that doesn’t fit its own narrative on any given subject. Sins of ommission – an effective way to totally distort facts without telling an outright lie, though they they occasionally do that too.

    They are a deeply dishonest organisation and the divisiveness they are deliberately sowing with their misrepresentation of British history, is actually dangerous. It will lead to social and racial division and possibly civil unrest.

    The same misrepresentation of information happened continually during the covid hysteria which the BBC in no small part created; they left out statistics and facts that painted a very different picture of covid, proving that it was not dangerous to the vast majority; they had Clive Myrie trawling hospital wards nightly, tracking down (invariably obese) covid patients in their 50s in oxygen masks, though when it all ended we find out the amount who got ill or died in this agegroup ran into only a few hundred of generally already unhealthy people in a population of 68 million. MISREPRESENTATION.

    And of course, we get the same thing over climate change – aka Global warming – but the data doen’tt support that hence the change. Mad eyed Rowlat has been caught and repimanded at least a couple of times for being economical with the truth. Yesterday they were trying to link the freezing weather in USA to global warming, even though there is no evidence for that, but plenty against it.

    The BBC are out of control -run by left wing activists on a mission to take our culture down, take capitalism down and promote things the public by and large disagree with.

    The Fake Tories have had 12 years to sort them out and have done FA.

    Time to vote for Reform UK – they’re the only party that will stop the BBC.

    * * *

    Bravo, Mr Morrissey!

    1. Good morning ,

      Sorry to be sarccy , but Moh and I watched the World cup football, and we decided Argentina deserved to win because they had a well connected proper national team , where as England had a melting pot of colours and nothing in common to bind them apart from their England shirts.

    2. Lord Roberts accused the bBC, among other things, of, “…inaccuracy or omitting important facts.” Yet the three paragraphs spouted by the bBC spokesweasel (why are the bBC taxpayers not informed who the spokesweasel is, after all they pay their wages?) amounts to, ‘We are mostly right, if you have a complaint please enter the labyrinthine system.’ Which will provide an answer (many weeks later) to one minor point you may raise, whilst ignoring the thrust of your argument and declaring the matter resolved.

      1. When I was younger and bought the Radio Times, they had a Letters Page in which their stock reply was “You seem to be the only person who has complained on this matter, therefore we have won the argument”.

        1. The biased bBC site opened many eyes to the fact that they weren’t ‘the only person’. No wonder tptb are supportive of the censorious ‘Online Harm Bill’.

      2. Yellow card for slandering weasels – noble creatures who are appalled to be linked to BBC bedwetters!

    3. The Bbc practises kitman and taqiyya. It isn’t just our history that you can’t trust it with.

  3. Today’s leading letter:

    SIR – I read with interest your report and letters (December 28) on the amount of customers’ money that energy companies are hoarding.

    Before October 1 this year I was paying £113 per month for dual fuel. Then, on October 19, my energy provider sent me an email advising me that my monthly direct debit would rise to £382, with effect from November 5, although at the beginning of October I had a credit of £283.07.

    I noted that I could instead pay my bills by monthly variable direct debit, effectively meaning I would pay for the actual energy used. This I did. So far I have paid £113 on October 6, nothing in November and nothing this month. I am due to pay £85 in January 2023.

    I do not have a smart meter but email my readings to my provider. Obviously my credit has disappeared but I am happy with this arrangement, which has also made me more conscious of my energy usage.

    Peter Dyson
    Rotherham, South Yorkshire

    Interesting, Mr Dyson…do all energy suppliers offer this method, and without penalty??

    1. Good morning, Minty. You beat me to it by four hours! My mistake last night was to drink a pint of milk to settle my stomach instead of a couple of Alka-Seltzer tablets. However, I have now taken the tablets and will shortly return to bed. What a waste of a day for me! New year’s resolution: Never, ever, drink two large glasses of wine with my meal and only drink a small glass of wine with one meal per week. (Small exception: A wee dram [and I mean wee] to see in the New Year and one with my neeps and tatties to celebrate Robert Burns’ birthday on January the 25th. Perhaps also on St Andrew’s Day.) I have about 6 more packets of Alka Seltzer which expire at the end of 2025 and hopefully I shall have to throw them away in January 2026 untouched. I shall report on my progress in three years’ time.

      PS – Drat and double drat. Spell-checker amended “neeps and tatties” to “needs and tattoos” Lol.

      1. Morning Anne – a contented dog and glum humans. Sums our life up at the moment. My young son will not discuss the problems of illegal immigration and the problems of Covid vaccines. He calls me a racist which by modern standards is probably correct. He is a teacher and is planning to rent out his flat and leave the country. I expect if I start to discuss the recent strictures on landlords the conversation will be halted. He is a good son and helps me as much as he can.

          1. So you are saying, Bill, (© Cathy Newman) that your son is Justin Welby? Lol. (Good morning, btw.)

        2. ‘Morning, Clyde. I know how you feel – my daughter objects to my use of ‘the Chinese virus’ in place of ‘Covid’. “Dad, you can’t say that!’ Well, it originated in China, and almost certainly from the Wuhan lab which did not have a high enough biosecurity level to handle the virus. And they tried to cover it up from the outset…

          End of conversation.

        3. Clydesider, this is exactly the problem. A tolerant attitude to others’ colour, beliefs and ways of life is – in my case and that of many others – actually turning us into resentment and intolerance simply because of the “racist” taunts and the portrayal of us as a happy multicultural society, vide the furniture adverts which suggest most UK families consist of black men and white women with coffee-coloured offspring.

    3. There were relatively few bleks in the seventies and none I recall on TV (I used to watch in those days).

  8. 369433+ up ticks,

    ALL boycott one Co. for a set period would surely get a message across.

    Thursday 29 December: One way for overcharged energy customers to take back control

  9. SIR – It’s good to see that the leader of the Opposition has his finger on the pulse of the nation.

    Britain is in the midst of widespread strikes, yet Sir Keir Starmer is preoccupied with the possibility of changing the law to allow trans people to self-declare their gender. This does not help to restore my faith in politicians.

    Ken Clarke
    Camberley, Surrey

    “Strikes? What strikes?” Get off your knees, Starmer, and address the real issues of the day.

    Oh, I forgot just for a moment that he failed dismally as DPP when he decided not to prosecute the Pakistani rape gangs. The leopard is not about to change his spots.

  11. Morning all. Rant for today. Excerpt from piece on new housing estates. Note: the ones I see dotted around the country are all ugly, without exception. Worse – they are built without sufficient parking. Because, of course, we are all walking or cycling – and, if we are not, they are jolly well going to force us to. And I use that word deliberately (not in the usual “Terriblegraph” sense, of “will have to” or “must”).

    “O pposition to housing developments would be curbed if there was more focus on the “heart and soul” of areas, says Michael Gove. The Housing Secretary argues, in the foreword to a Policy Exchange report, that too many planning applications are “indifferent” or “insipid”. He is right – many new-build homes are indeed boxy, mean-looking structures. But the main reason not-in-my-back-yard Nimbys often prevail is that housing developments almost never come with new schools, hospitals and other local infrastructure. So locals endure all the disruption of house-building, only for already scarce amenities to then become even scarcer.…”

    1. New estates don’t even have enough space for a fire engine to have access , nor bin lorries because of the lack of parking facilities , cars parked on/off pavements etc .

      Mean airless cramped estates are the ghettos of the near future .

    2. An estate of nearly 600 houses has been given the go-ahead to be built on green fields (a former farm) not far from me. There will be a school – in phase 2. Guess what; the builder will have run out of money by phase 2, so we’ll have lots of houses, all needing at least one car (no work in the area, no public transport) and no school. Don’t get me started on the current waits for ambulances and the inability to see a doctor …

    2. Good morning Phizzee

      During the 1990s, hundreds of Albanian men falsely claimed to be Kosovan in order to gain UK asylum.

      The same man is also believed to be among four Border Force staff who were arrested over a separate incident on December 6.

      The four were detained on suspicion of misconduct in public office and conspiracy to steal.

      (They have been over here for more than 20years)

  13. Article in the DT – and in the case of Drakeford not before time!

    Mark Drakeford is bringing Wales to its knees

    The Welsh First Minister’s pitiful record is surely all the evidence needed that devolution is a disaster

    MATTHEW LYNN 28 December 2022 • 7:00p

    Sterling crashed to its lowest level in years. Inflation hit rates we have not witnessed in half a century. Prime ministers came and went with embarrassing regularity, and Harry Kane even fluffed a penalty at the World Cup. All things considered, 2022 was not exactly a great 12 months for anyone.

    And yet, with just a couple of days left until the calendar closes the door on the year forever, we finally have at least one piece of good news. Mark Drakeford has said that he is planning to step down as Welsh First Minister by 2024. Sure, he will cling onto power for a while yet before he heads into retirement. But we should celebrate the approaching end of his time in office nonetheless – since in his quietly shambolic way, the sanctimonious former academic has come to embody everything that has gone wrong with devolution.

    Drakeford has never been the most high-profile of the leaders of the UK’s devolved administrations. He doesn’t have the manic fury of Nicola Sturgeon, the populist panache of Manchester’s Andy Burnham, nor the energy for 24/7 virtue signalling that characterises London’s Sadiq Khan. But he has something else going for him. If ever a really bad idea is under discussion, you can rely upon Drakeford to champion it.

    Over his four years in power, Wales has been turned into a laboratory for the kind of half-baked policy ideas that don’t usually make it out of the seminar rooms of second-rate universities.

    A four-day week? Sure, that will revitalise some of the worst public services in the developed world. A universal basic income that pays you a salary regardless of whether you work or not? That’s certain to restart a stalled economy and get people back to the office or factory. A standard 20mph speed limit? Heck, why not? It is not as if businesses ever need to get stuff anywhere quickly. Second-home owners and holiday rentals? Instead of embracing the money they bring into the country, the First Minister has pandered to the most narrow-minded instincts of his nationalist rivals by trying to bully them out of existence. At times, Drakeford has appeared to be waging a one-man war against any form of productive activity.

    During lockdown, he championed the kind of petty authoritarianism for which the pandemic was the perfect excuse. Schools were closed at the first sign of a cough, and, memorably, even though supermarkets were allowed to stay open, they were banned from selling non-essential items, creating the ridiculous spectacle of Tesco and Sainsbury’s sealing off the clothing and entertainment aisles. Drakeford’s Covid police seemed to be more worried about stopping the free market than the virus.

    And of course, all of his failures are merely blamed on London. He is currently complaining that he is unable to pay striking nurses any more, because the UK Government will not give him the money. He is doing so while refusing to use his own powers to vary income tax, which might well enable him to pay for it himself. Drakeford represents the worst of devolution. He glories in all the trappings of power, but avoids any genuine responsibility.

    The tragedy is that Wales could use a genuinely creative, bold leader. It is one of the poorest parts of the UK. Educational standards have collapsed, with the Pisa international comparisons showing it has the worst schools in the UK. The benefits bill has soared, while a worrying proportion of people are economically inactive. A real leader would be hustling for new industries, cutting taxes and regulations to out-compete England, and taking on the power of the unions to drive school standards higher. Drakeford doesn’t seem to be interested in any of that.

    Over a hundred years, Wales has produced some of Britain’s greatest leaders. David Lloyd George, Nye Bevan and Roy Jenkins were all major figures, capable of reshaping the political landscape. They were reformers of vision. Devolution, however, has elevated political pygmies to positions of power and influence. Drakeford will leave behind a legacy of failure, whinging and division. Wales is capable of much better – and if devolution can’t produce more inspiring leaders, we would be better off without it.

    * * *

    This BTL poster has had enough of Drakeford’s socialist paradise and is voting with his feet:

    Mathew Rees11 HRS AGO

    I’m a 38-year old Welshman who will be emigrating for good this time next month. I remember life before Welsh devolution and I’ve lived most of my life under it. Having spent 10+ years working in the Welsh public sector and broadcasting industry, the managed decline I’ve seen and the complacency of Welsh politicians is genuinely depressing.

    No, Westminster isn’t perfect, and it never really worked for Wales up until 1999 but what we have now is much worse.

    Drakeford and his predecessors Carwyn Jones, Rhodri Morgan, and Alun Michael have proven the sceptics right. It has been jobs for the boys all along, except these days it’s jobs for all who aren’t boys it seems.

    Just to give you some facts: Wales has 3.1m people. It has 22 counties, 60MSs (soon to be 96) as well as 40 MPs.

    On top of this 150,000 people are employed by their local authority, there are four commissioners (Welsh Language, Older People, Children and Future Generations) each appointed by a Labour crony earning top whack whilst 33pc of Wales’ children grow up in poverty. Labour squandered tens of millions of pounds of EU Objective 1 money not on infrastructure but things like art exhibitions, community centres and an overinflated ‘third sector’. This sector coupled with the huge public sector on top of an incestuous Welsh media has created an enormous sinecure whereby most people who need to earn some money end up working inadvertently for the Welsh Labour Government. We have 48 charities and organisations, (just count them) whose responsibility is dealing with homelessness.

    51pc of the Welsh annual budget goes on the Welsh NHS and it’s failing. The schools are the worst in the UK, our economy is a basket case, and Welsh speakers generally have to leave Wales to find work. Sad, but I’ve had enough.

    1. Schools are worse than those in Scotland?

      Having said that, my friend in leafy Cowbridge tells chilling tales on the Woke and racist nonsense his children are being “taught”.

    2. And the next bit of extravagence is replacing all 30mph signs with 20mph ones, though I am surprised Drakeford hasn’t decided to make them kph ones as he is so keen on the EU.

      1. They are going to have to spend a lot of money on the road from Egwlys Wen to Selattyn. The border winds in and out zigzagging across the road every hundred yards or so.

    3. The chap in charge of Chepstow racecourse (incidentally one of the least racegoer-friendly courses I have ever visited and I’ve been to all of them in England and Wales) said the “Welsh government” had given them full compensation for shutting down the meeting at short notice during covid. He was delighted. You could probably have heard me in Wrecsam, yelling “It’s tax-payers’ money, you berk!”

      1. That’s twice you’ve posted that, Annie. Are you self identifying as a Mademoiselle Francaise? Lol. (Good morning, btw.)

          1. Oddly enough, I went into a pet shop on Wednesday and when the chap behind the counter said, “hello”, the parrot said hello immediately afterwards!

  16. Good Moaning.
    Not very comradely.

    “Postal strikes ‘could put teachers’ strikes at risk’

    Delays to arrival of large number of ballot papers, some of which may not get there before deadlines in January”

    1. I haven’t had my Speccie magazine delivered for the last three weeks
      Lou Reed’s haven’t been the same since.

      1. Did you get their two week Christmas special edition?
        I cancelled the Spekkie after a couple of their writers wrote incredibly snide infantile pieces about Liz Truss.
        I will probably resume when we move house, but just get the electronic version. I like to read an actual physical magazine or book, but the more lost trade, the greater the lesson to the unions.

        1. No, that never arrived either.
          It has turned into the Guardian these days and propagandists for the globalists

          I’ve only really kept it going so I can get it on line.

        2. Wow, I thought I’d written that post! Am off from Speccie on Saturday for same reason. Plus have not received my print copy for what seems like weeks.

    2. Sounds familiar, delays in the sending of ballot papers. That’s how sadick kahnt became mayor twice over.

  17. Russia plans to disrupt Western arms supplies to Ukraine: Lavrov. 29 December 2022.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/708766598ada5a0875cc12f93da4244706edea2dccdff3861ccb63c672ccc92d.png

    This is of course perfectly true insofar it goes. Whether it justifies the present war is something else entirely. Whatever; this announcement can only be another increment on the inexorable slide to full scale war. A situation is slowly being created, in what was a minor and obscure struggle, becoming a fight for the right to exist. Such conflicts usually end badly for one of the parties. The possession of Nuclear Weapons guarantees that both feel the pain!

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/29/russia-aims-to-disrupt-new-western-arms-supplies-to-kyiv-lavrov

    1. And there is some serious shit-stirring by the EU-US in Kosovo.
      This is going to end in tears.

      1. Just another angle of attack against Putin, through trouble-making against the Russian Orthodox Church congregation of Serbia. As per Zelensky shutting Orthodox Churches in Ukraine.

        One might have thought that the US support for the KLA in 1999, over soil that the Serbians had held for centuries against mohamaden invasion, would have been seen as ‘regime change’ against Serbs for their Orthodox outlook. As well as a cheap shot against Russia. Serbia has never been forgiven for fighting against the nazis, embarrassing their Balkan neighbours in the process.

  18. Morning all 😉 😊
    I’ve been conversing with friends in Toronto and Australia during the dark hours. One tells me that the temps there were in the 30s and and another below minus 20. And we are in the middle.
    And we are currently being ripped off by our Government over our energy bills, to pay for all their stupidity in allowing illegal immigrants to settle and keep warm and be fed for absolutely no contribution.
    Annoying isn’t it.

    1. “Annoying isn’t it.”

      Perfect example of litotes.
      (Casts eyes up to heaven and smiles at English teacher sitting on cloud. She may have been an old dragon, but she’d liven the place up a bit.)

  19. There’s not a lot to smile about these days, but this headline from the DT is a welcome exception:

    “Postal strikes ‘could put teachers’ strikes at risk’

    Delays to arrival of large number of ballot papers, some of which may not get there before deadlines in January”

    Oh deary me, this is what the unintended effect of a general strike might look like!
    Anyway, the article includes the following paragraph:

    “Dr Mary Bousted, the NEU general secretary, said: “In all my time as general secretary, I haven’t seen such anger. We’ve got teachers using food banks, teachers who are scared to put petrol in their car because they can’t afford it, and leaving the profession in droves.”

    Oh, really??  This BTL poster is similarly unconvinced:

    Michelle Page 8 HRS AGO

    Oh for goodness sakes, can we stop playing the ‘food banks’ card. Why is it that teachers and nurses have to eat out of food banks whilst those earning less are able to go to Tesco? This is getting mighty tedious, wind your necks in militant prats, believe it or not inflation doesn’t just impact the public sector and your bleating is getting on my norks.

    * * *
    Mine too, Ms Page (if I had any)!

    1. One of my friends who is on minimum wage was ranting on about this the other day – “why are they using food banks? I don’t have to and we eat well.” I suggested they spent their money on fags, booze, Sky TV, Netflix and takeaways. She totted that little lot up and said I was probably right.

  20. After my stupid o’clock session, a second Good Morning to all.
    A tad above 2½°C outside and a pleasantly dry start after the small hours downpour we had.

  21. Good morning my friends.

    A couple of Hoodagestit ? DT Headlines to make me want to go back to bed!

    Islamist groups funded by taxpayer, Prevent review finds
    William Shawcross: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/12/28/islamist-groups-funded-taxpayer-prevent-review-finds

    BBC guilty of ‘rewriting British history’ to promote woke agenda in ‘biased’ documentaries
    Broadcaster failing in its duty of impartiality by allowing ‘politically motivated campaigners’ to present shows, say leading academics
    Gordon Rayner: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/28/bbc-guilty-rewriting-british-history-promote-woke-agenda-biased/

    2. We found recently staying at the Warner Hotel in Herefordshire.
      It prompted pleasant conversations with people who have come to the UK to work. Most of the staff where from Poland. And are doing an excellent job. Also nurses during my recent few days in hospital.
      But I was very aware of one particular nurse who seemed extremely intimidating due to her some twenty plus stone in body weight and with a rude abrut approach. And obviously definitely not from Europe.
      I didn’t feel the need to ask.

      1. Most of the nurses who cared for OH during his recent hospital stays were not English so it led to some interesting conversations for him.

    3. “From under a gooseberry bush.”
      “Yes, but what type of gooseberry bush?”
      “Waycist …….”

    4. People regret asking where I’m from. It’s a speech that lasts 20 minutes, if I can be arsed, otherwise “Yorkshire” if I can’t.
      Amazingly, whites aren’t just an amorphous mass that only ever come from one place.

      1. When I’m stuck for something to argue about and there is a Yorkshireman handy, I challenge him to explain the difference between a Sheffield accent and one from Huddersfield. Or why I keep getting Barnsley and Burnley mixed up. They’re both generic Northern towns aren’t they?

        Remember “good honest broadband from Yorkshire”? I wonder what became of that when BT centralised management onto the City of London?

        The toothpaste can come from both ends of the tube if one cuts off the other end, but it still comes from the same place.

  24. As NoTTLers appreciate, I know nothing.

    So, a serious question: is the use of food banks means tested? Or can any T, D or H just turn up and help themselves?

    2. Make sure you sport tats and a spot of ironmongery.
      Then the world’s your lobster – well, cheap pasta and cornflakes to be more accurate.

        1. My wife always used to complain about people turning up in a taxi until I pointed out that they lived a mile from the foodbank and there was no other transport available.

          She might have had no problems walking that far but that wasn’t the case for all of their clients.

    3. Not means tested up here, you can see a lot of people turning up at them who are obviously not going short of food

    5. At one time you had to show you were in receipt of benefits (pension?) but not sure now, it seems anyone turns up.

    6. I knew someone who was a devout Socialist and then went on to become a Labour councillor in Oxford. In the 1980s, she got herself a council house, which was then sold to her at a heavily subsidised price under ‘Right to Buy’. She then let it out at market rates to needy families, making enough money to live in style.

      Surely, in our go-getting age, some Socialist will cotton on to the idea of doing the same sort of thing with food banks. Good for jobs, so they say, and wealth trickles down if it isn’t taxed.

    7. The food bank that my wife worked at was very serious about means testing applicants, they has to show income and epenses to qualify. The local food banks also exchange client lists to prevent people abusing multiple sources.

      Not that they always stuck to their rules.

      Your mileage may vary.

    8. After 12 hours, food banks have become yer obsession, Bill.
      Why don’t you bugger off, do some research and report yer findings next year?

  26. 369433+ up ticks,

    It does come across to me like the majority of the
    lab / lib /con /current ukip coalition are impatiently awaiting their first government decreed execution be it decapitation, stoning,
    hanging, flight simulation from high rise.

    Dt,
    Islamist groups funded by taxpayer, Prevent review finds
    Government’s anti-terror scheme backed organisations that went on to promote extreme Islamist ideas

      1. 369433+ up ticks,

        Morning B3,

        We will have ti extend the 7 day working week to an 8 day
        M T W T F S S, scamday.

      2. 369433+ up ticks,

        Morning B3,

        We will have ti extend the 7 day working week to an 8 day
        M T W T F S S, scamday.

      2. Neither would I! I try to keep our lives as free from electronic gadgets as possible. I have a mobile phone but we have a bad signal here and I don’t take it with me when we go out and about, I usually forget.

    4. Apparently any device with a camera or microphone can be used to spy on you if the authorities so wish.

  29. ogga1
    8 minutes ago
    369433+ up ticks,
    What is sadly laughable is the fact that many a hardened voting veteran of the lab/lib/con coalition criticised Tommy Robinson for his brief dalliance with EDL all the while they were busy murdering a Nation.

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    22h
    There is the free speech test for such as Twitter & GB News, no Tommy no real free speech.

    I supported TR because he was a political prisoner falsely convicted for speaking the truth.
    TommyRobinson1
    @TommyRobinson1

    https://gettr.com/post/p236…

    ·
    Dec 27

  31. Here’s a bright light, from letters BTL:
    Mabel Burlington
    1 HR AGO
    We are with EDF and they are an absolute pain for refunding money and reducing direct debits when you want to pay more. Because of their unwanted refunds, we ended up entering winter with no credit whatsoever and now they have reduced our DD from £290 to £228. This is because we were frugal up until the end of Oct. When it turned cold (as it has here in Scotland) we go to 24/7 heating. We wanted the big credit cushion to prepare for that. Now, what will happen when they check our meter in March, we will likely be 2k down and be adjusted to huge monthy dds over the summer. We have had to open a new bank account to hold the funds that edf will not hold as credit for us.
    Why would you give money to the power supplier to “hold for you”? Why not open your own account, as mentioned, make a standing order to shove the money across to your account, and at least reap 0,1% interest – plus, you don’t have to negotuiate with anybody to get the money out when you need it!

    1. What? Think for themselves and take responsibility for their finances? Are you mad? Who could they blame for their problems then?

  32. Labour plan would give victims say in antisocial behaviour punishments

    Shadow justice secretary says party will put prevention at the heart of its approach to crime.

    Labour would overhaul the approach to antisocial behaviour with plans to allow victims to choose how offenders are punished, it has been reported.

    The shadow justice secretary, Steve Reed, has said he will update Tony Blair’s “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” slogan and put prevention at the heart of their approach, the Times reported.

    Since the Criminal Justice System is no longer capable of apprehending offenders this is probably the only avenue remaining for legislation. This lust for ineffective and useless remedies is symptomatic of a Political Class, who having created the Society they dreamed of and having found out that it is an ongoing nightmare, grasp at any possibility to disguise its reality. That it will have almost no effect on the situation doesn’t really matter. Appearance is everything.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/dec/29/labour-plan-give-victims-say-in-antisocial-behaviour-punishments

    1. No point in terrible retributions if nobody is going to be apprehended – unless the plan is that just any Joe Blow is hauled off the streets anyway, regardless of involvement.

      1. Can I say that I’m an Old Testament Christian and demand an eye for an eye?
        Bet the muslims would get away with it!

    3. Perhaps there should be a multiple choice of punishment; public flogging, stocks, nail genitalia to the wall etc. The ‘victim’ gets to choose. I’m in favour of stocks and throwing tomatoes at them and if they show remorse take them out of the tin first.

    4. And if the offenders are black? Nada, nothing to see here. Those complaining about the anti-social behaviour in the first place will be the ones to be punished for their “hate crimes” in reporting the miscreants.

      Of course the miscreants will no doubt want cleaning out of the reporters’ bank accounts to their own to be the first punishment.

  33. Good morning, everyone. I hope you all enjoy your day. The first dry one here, to be followed by at least four days of non-stop rain.

        1. Are you not well, Elsie? that’s a shame. I miscalculated with the washing – hung the larger things out in a dry spell and then had to take it in again. Currently sunny again now.

          1. “Not well?”, Ndovu. It was a self-inflicted hangover due to excess alcohol consumption yesterday. Anyhow, instead of going back to bed I decided to make good use of a mainly sunny day today to spend 2 hours in the front and back garden mowing the lawns. This also achieved a 95% reduction of fallen leaves, so this is/was a good result.

          3. No, Ndovu. What i always do before mowing after a spell of rain is to pass my hand over the grass to check it is dry. And it was, so the mowing was successful.

    2. Poured with rain a few minutes ago before my washing finished doing. Good job I didn’t hang it out earlier!

    3. Whaaat? 4 days of non-stop rain? Bitterly cold wind here this morning but it is so good to see the sun.

  34. Yesterday my wife had run out of her off the shelf cough medicine. I drove to the village picked up some milk and went to the pharmacy. No cough syrup on the shelves at all. Drove about 4 miles to the next small shopping centre. One pharmacy, same story none on the shelves. Assistant seemed quite proud to announce they had sold out. There is another small group of shops on a housing estate, including a small Tesco. I parked up went into the pharmacy and they had one large bottle left. After the pharmacist finished asking questions regarding other medication being taken, I walked out into the wind and rain short of £8:50. Oh well it does the trick. But you’d think with all the coughing that’s been going on around the country they would have kept their stocks topped up.

    2. You think that is bad? The Canadian government controls the importing medicines into the country.

      With surprising bureaucratic efficiency they noted back in April that cough medicines were likely to be in short supply this winter but then reverted to type and did nothing about it. As a result, there were no childrens cough / cold remedies available during October and November- it wasn’t a case of going to another chemist, they were all out

      Plenty available in the States bit of course it wasn’t labeled properly (no french) so they let the kiddies suffer .

      1. About time that Canada recognised English as their language and did away with the french nonsense – let ’em speak french but not as an official language – patois only.

    3. I gave up on cough jollop after reading this from the NHS (Saucepan dvision)

      “These will not stop your cough, but may help you cough less.

      Decongestants and cough medicines containing codeine will not stop your cough.”

      2. Cough medicines are handy for suppressing coughs. Which means that everyone gets a decent night’s sleep. The best cure of all.

      1. Yes, thank you! Still mostly bedridden but managed to cook and be up over Christmas. Hibernation has its attractions…

        2. Agreed, Lass, I’ve done a lot of sleeping over the Christmas period – it helps to quell all those otherwise dismal thoughts.

          Good to know that you are feeling better.

    2. Not to mention the now absolute Shite holes that were once under British/white/guidance/rule. How the ANC has wrecked South Africa. And the murdering POS Mugabe, who murdered thousands of his own people because he knew they would never vote for him.

      1. Yes, well we owe them nothing; the Chinese are now colonising them, and even the Africans might realise when they were well off. But I don’t hold out much hope – they are not the brightest stars in the sky.

        2. The Chinese have already stolen the available minerals from Zimbabwe. Mugabe murdered or drove off the white farmers. There’s a good book about it. It’s called When a Crocodile Eats the Sun. By Peter Godwin.

    3. Pretty good but he misses out the part the Americans played in undermining British Rule in Africa.

      1. Yes, but the Yanks are a different point. The Yanks set out to undermine the British in the world generally, and the Marshall Plan was a complete stab in the back for this country.

  36. Good Morrow, Gentlefolk. Here is today’s story. A motoring one as there are no trains:

    An unknown piece of history………sets the record straight

    Did you know????

    The Goldberg Brothers – The Inventors of the Automobile Air Conditioner.

    Here’s a little factoid for automotive buffs or just to dazzle your friends.

    The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Max, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner.

    On July 17, 1946, the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees.

    The four brothers walked into old man Henry Ford’s office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.

    Henry was curious and invited them into his office. They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car.

    They persuaded him to get into the car, which was about 130 degrees, turned on the air conditioner, and cooled the car off immediately.

    The old man got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent.

    The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million, but they wanted the recognition by having a label, ‘The Goldberg Air-Conditioner,’ on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed.

    Now old man Ford was more than just a little anti- Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg’s name on two million Fords.

    They haggled back and forth for about two hours and finally agreed on $4 million and that just their first names would be shown.

    And so, to this day, all Ford air conditioners show:

    Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max on the controls.

    1. Amusing story, but Henry Ford died in April 1947 – three months before this supposed occurrence.

        1. It obviously isn’t true, but the originator of the story (not NoToNanny) should have checked a few basic facts.

          7. The originator must have checked facts, as it’s set in July 1946. Maybe you’re not very good at assimilating facts.

    3. Excellent one, Tom! I’d ROFL if I wasn’t tied in the back of the most uncomfortable car on earth.

    2. Wadda Loada Bolero.
      The people who run our so called institutions have serious mental health issues………and I mean serious.

    3. If they’re required to cater for all sexual proclivities, will a nursery, menagerie and morgue be added too?

      1. It really shouldn’t be up to the prison service to provide such things. They will be providing Dior perfumes next.

  38. What turkey stage is everybody on?
    Day 2 of turkey risotto here….only turkey soup day left!

    3. Ours with Ham fed 15 place settings. and i made a curry with the pieces no body seems to like. Leg and wing meat.
      Our heavy box of kitchen waste was collected before 9am this morning. Still got a bag of bits in the fridge for doggo.

          2. Strange, altogether we have the new Kyiv. What will we call chicken breast stuffed with garlic butter? Yet we never go to München for a bierfest, our ships don’t dock in Goteborg and we only bombed Köln. Danny Kaye never sang about wonderful København.

            Why do we have to change to suit foreigners – will we rename it Londres to appease the frogs?

    5. No turkey day stage here, blackbox2. My Christmas Day meal was a leg of lamb and I will probably eat roast lamb on alternate days until the middle (if not the end) of January.

      1. Slow cooking in Morphy Richards Multi-cooker.

        4 chix thighs, chopped small potato, ditto red pepper & 2 onions, simmering in chix soup, water and a small marmite mix. Now at 80°C and leave for at least 2 hours.

    6. Three meals down, the carcass has been reduced to a mass of legs and thighs. We have a long way to go. Turkey stock was brewing all night, I foresee several turkey soup meals in my future.

      Weshould have just bought a chicken.

      1. Should have put it back in the oven !

        A meat thermometer will tell you if it is cooked enough and like all birds should be rested for at least 30 mins before serving.

        1. We offered to cook the lot, at least to cook-in some flavour & make sure it was cooked properly. Rejected.

    8. No turkey here……. we had lamb – just a few scraps left now. Soup was vegetables (mostly Xmas day leftovers). Just about to feed the rest of the soup to the family. Tonight we’ve got roast beef, as it’s younger son’s birthday.

    10. Only a small amount left of the ham & pork we had, but the liquor from the ham, which was actually cooked in my home made cider, has been filled up with assorted pulses, leek, grated carrot, parsnip and white turnip and is currently on the Rayburn.

        1. Yup. With hindsight, the appendix had been grumbling to itself for a least a couple of months.
          Very selfishly, I am glad he can now lift stuff again because if – IF – things go according to plan, we will need help in the next few weeks.

      1. Just like all their other lies, it had no substance, and its withdrawal won’t be publicised in the media.
        Remember the rape accusations made to a giant fanfare before the 2016 elections, and then quietly withdrawn a few weeks later?

        2. Throwing mud with the intention that some will stick in the minds of the electorate as it slowly slides to the ground?

        1. Ah, I’m with you.

          The letter was notice of the withdrawal, and the lawyer virtually posted it on the internet.

          Bloomin’ Wail.

  40. GREAT NEWS – Morrisons selling sprouts at 8p (EIGHT PENCE) for half a kilo. The MR bought four packs. Yum yum. We love them…!!

    2. I quite like them too though I rarely eat them. Brussel sprouts contain sodium, potassium, carbohydrate, dietry fibre, vitamin C, iron, calcium, vitamin B6 and magneium and only have 43 calories per 100 grams.

        1. I often think that when I swallow a little 50+ tablet that claims to contain multiple vits and minerals too. A Google search now throws up many websites claiming that they’re proven to provide no benefit. I don’t believe that.

          1. If taken ‘with’ food, it allows the digestive system to absorb those vitamins and minerals. If not, they pass right through and exit next time you go for a p..

          2. Harry the puppy is sitting on my feet. A miasmic cloud appears every few minutes. It’s him not me !

    3. See? They can’t _give_ them away. Waste of 8p, mind.

      Although, I’d happily buy 50 kilos. Then immediately bin them, to save others from the horror that is that most disgusting of vegetables.

      1. You can tell its Christmas past, with all this talk of sprouts and turkey.

        They could be donated to Bob Cratchit for next years feast.

    4. Sainsbury had 2.5kg baglets of miscellaneous potatoes at 19p.

      You (and other gourmet nottlers) might consider an occasional visit to the local foodbank, where there are plenty of bargains as the less affluent Brits are not keen on preparing vegetables. Food bank organisers often have problems with an excess of perishable goods; you can assuage your conscience by making a donation, or passing the occasional item to less fortunate neighbours.

  42. Afternoon all, well Christmas is over for another year, and it was a good one for Mr & Mrs VVOF.
    I hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did, visited family and had friends down from the Greater Manchester area.
    Now if it would only stop raining long enough to get some walks in.
    A quiet New Year awaits and then Easter beckons, woohoo!

  43. Afternoon All

    Animal Crackers…..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/84d310f7ccc41da431f5bdd956e14f3f6aa54de5bfd53ab15538cc89192fea76.gif

    https://twitter.com/angie_karan/status/1608068245533388800

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2e71aaa508fc1b5f3dcabc8f937af6861d0a94a25f56a024c7145a2d96d8c8f2.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/aaa50cfd3f1eea807388e70fa55d9ea916cc143e885f598b646cc6a6fc0b8e86.jpg

    What day is it??

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/553eec3db3232928bf8aade78a8d7e26590c86cf24440e5b72c4a3c8f2f0833d.jpg

    1. The curtain woman deserves all she got. She was shining a LED light thingy that cats chase.

  44. Modern Life

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/600403f62b6675d944aab497173f659161a9948044b076c07192252670d39cb3.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/71b0758a1519fe6a2138ac428419cacfee4ac5eb2f458d4d90d9695843707d10.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f95d495bfca976ac06642588d70298e15f2c2672736fcbc57acf0a7d325207dc.jpg

    https://twitter.com/AleksDjuricic/status/1606845315289595905?s=20&t=Pw6-c8OguQDM_M4R4eBToQ

    Good summary of the madness

    http://www.snouts-in-the-trough.com/archives/33319

    1. Who is she? Apart from being a lady who needs to keep away from windows and solitary walks in the woods.

          3. Oh, I thought you asked me to slaughter the fat old bird.
            Well plucked? …bother, that’s embarrassing, digital clarity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

          1. Firstborn diagnosed & reported a couple if faults, and since the car was new, they gave us a discount!

      3. Excuse the moral high tone…
        In Spain you must collect any new bank card from the bank and show ID. No doubt there are policies to deal with disabled clients and customers of online only accounts. No cards go missing, and impersonators (vide Gloria Hunniford) would struggle.

      4. Excuse the moral high tone…
        In Spain you must collect any new bank card from the bank and show ID. No doubt there are policies to deal with disabled clients and customers of online only accounts. No cards go missing, and impersonators (vide Gloria Hunniford) would struggle.

    3. It’s something? Thing is, there simply isn’t the money.

      What those striking are really demanding is that the private sector work harder, get less and the public get more, for less.

      Yet… the private sector makes all the money. If it decides it doesn’t want to bother (and it is, because there’s no blasted point) then there is nothing for the public to take. This is basic economics. I know the socialists like Lynch don’t understand it, but tough.

      A Telegraph comment poster said ‘Private industry can either cut costs or become more efficient. A vitriolic reply, typical of the Left wing mind said ‘No, they just hike costs, as they have done’. Such people ignore than the vast majority of a businesses costs are tax nor that efficiency and costs are cut from the next biggest cost: employees.

      I despair, sometimes. Not the usual oh for goodness sake frustration, but genuine despair at how moronic some people are, how little people understand about the simplest of things.

        1. The trouble is, the workforce still have a public sector mindset. Same goes for the train companies.

          (Edit – typo)

        2. The trouble is, the workforce still have a public sector mindset. Same goes for the train companies.

          (Edit – typo)

          2. And similar names in Scotland, Cornwall and Ireland, so I belive.
            I think we are still the only country in the world that does not need to specify the country of origin on its stamps, only the denomination, another snippet of our history that gets forgotten.

          1. Now owned, I think, by DHL, why they are allowed to keep the tag ‘Royal’ is beyond me.

            Paint all pillar boxes, vans etc., bright yellow and call it ‘POST’ a la Deutschland.

      3. And State enterprises don’t just hike charges? Remind me, how much is a stamp again? And where there’s no charge, there’s an increased waiting list instead.

          1. I remember when stamps were small, purple, had a portrait (not a silhouette) of Her Majesty and cost 3d for a letter.

          6. Hardly, Connors, in the 1950s used on all letters and it was the same price for the DT in those days.

            A useful price of the times.

        2. Postage in UK is based on racist and white supremacist ideology.
          It started with the 1d ‘black’ and the 1/2p ‘red’.

          Increase the price for it to be eventually abolished due to popular demand.

          All part of our new cultural revolution.

    5. We had 7 cards, a replacement bank card which Mrs VVOF was advised by the bank was sent out on the 8th Dec and 1 letter.
      At this rate they will still be arriving through January.

    7. Some of mine have reached their recipients. I’m about 2/3 down on past years. But RM issues pale into insignificance compared to an Amazon and an ebay purchase, both of which have been ‘delayed’ at my local Evri depot since 15 December…

      1. 369433+ up ticks,
        Afternoon VW,

        Alleged impersonating true blue Conservatives with intent to maim / kill,
        I believe.

      1. 369433+ up ticks,

        Afternoon JM,

        Within the electorate majority there are a multitude of queer …..

  48. GOOD NEWS AT LAST:

    “Men’s prison is slammed by inspectors for not providing make-up and women’s clothing to its transgender inmates”

    Thank goodness the regulators are on the ball and chain…

    3. Eh? Those inmates are mentally ill, so shampoo and cosmetics and condoms and tampons etc should be provided by the local NHS.

    4. Trans men-who-pretend-they-are-women use far more slap than real women. That is a dead giveaway for one…

    2. Are these the same that danced while people were locked down with covid. Sorry nurses, but some of you are letting down the side.

    3. Where does it categorically state they are nurses, they could be extra large sized escort ladies, or even extra large Nottlers.

  52. Can anyone recommend any recently-read non-fiction books? Preferably in paperback and written well after 1945.
    The Telegraph is now Pravda, but conspiracy websites are full of holes.
    Nearly choked to read a piece glorifying a tennis player’s tears for an Iranian jailbird.

    3. Operation Mincemeat and Double Cross, both by Ben Macintyre.
      I’ve enjoyed these, so will look for more of his the story behind the spy books

    5. Churchills “The Second World War” 6 vols. A must read for everyone if you want to understand today.

      1. ‘A must read for everyone if you want to understand today’

        That, in one statement, sums up the problem we have with our current political elite. None of them seem to have a grounding in recent history.

        1. Not just recent history, either. We had three Afghan wars in the nineteenth century and they didn’t go well.

    6. Rather specialist but if the topic is of interest these are worth reading:

      The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
      SOE by MRD Foot
      Engineers of Victory Paul Kennedy

    8. Bernard B. Fall’s Books:

      Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu.

      Street Without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina.

      Ps.
      Chickenhawk by Robert Mason:
      A helicopter pilot during the American period of the above debacle.

      Just because you asked for nonfiction, I’ll add this one as well. A commander who put his men first!!
      Not…. the film of the same name.

      We Were Soldiers Once.
      by:
      Lieutenant General Harold Gregory Moore Jr.

      1. Well, as if you couldn’t have guessed, it was moaning Murray who was overcome with emotion when he found out that the other whinger, Zahari-Radcliffe had watched his Wimbledon win when she was in ‘prison’!

    11. The Fringes of Power – War Diaries 1939-1955 by John Colville ,who was Churchill’s private secretary during the war. A hefty tome but well worth it and very entertaining and interesting.

      1. This looks like a good recommendation. Not read it but: yet another book I need to find from my local book store or, reluctantly, online.
        LoTL you are very bad cos you’re costing me money and grief from my wife because of me adding more books on the shelf.

    14. ‘With the Old Breed’, Eugene Sledge, written in the 70’s, about his experiences as a US Marine in the Peleliu and Okinawa campaigns.

      If you ever wondered why ‘war is hell’ read this.

  53. Off to Niece for family curry cookoff my offerings a Sag Aloo and a Beef Madras cooked yesterday and festered in the fridge overnight
    I may just have my first beer in two months,bugger it life’s too short
    Later All

  54. I was just looking on something on Youtube and on comes this advert “Give Zakat” – i.e. donate to muslims living in the UK. Why should I? And if you want money, do us the courtesy of asking in English. Zakat ain’t English.

    We are already giving them far more than many of them deserve. Each of 4 wives will get their own state pension. Each of 4 wives can claim they are separated from their husband, rent out their council properties and live together as a unit with all their children.

    Grrrrr.

    1. Unless you pay national insurance, you should not receive a pension. It’s not fair on those working that a dosser claiming child benefit should get anything when they’ve contributed nothing.

      The welfare system in this country is abused beyond measure. We need radical reductions to it, especially child benefit and housing benefit. It isn’t right that someone should have to pay someone else’ mortgage for a home they cannot afford.

      1. In the USA I understand the claimants are limited to 5 years in their lifetime.
        Some, in the UK, seem to be able to claim from leaving school until they retire!

  55. Michelle Obama has confessed she could not stand her husband and former US President Barack for ten years of their marriage

    I quite understand, I’ve always disliked the slimy turd

  57. Japan Set to Import First Crude Shipment From Russia Since May. 29 Deceember 2022.

    Imports to resume as government pushes for energy security.

    Oil imports from Sakhalin needed to maintain LNG output: Japan.

    Japan is set to import its first crude oil shipment from Russia in more than half a year, as the government pushes energy importers to stockpile fuel in a bid to avoid future shortages.

    The Aframax Zaliv Baikal vessel is sailing to Japan after loading from the Sakhalin-2 facility in Russia’s far east on Wednesday, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Japan hasn’t imported a Russian oil shipment since May, shipping data show.

    This is in direct contravention of all the agreements made about the Ukraine War! My guess is that the Japanese have calculated that there are going to be severe oil shortages in the future due to the Sanctions Regime and are getting stocked up now to avoid their economy meeting the same fate as that of Germany!

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-28/japan-set-to-import-first-crude-shipment-from-russia-since-may?leadSource=uverify%20wall

      1. The Japanese have not been “enriched” – and almost certainly have no intention of going down that disastrous route.

  58. A Lil’ Birdie Three today.

    Wordle 558 3/6
    🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Par four.
      Wordle 558 4/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩⬜🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Just a par for me.

      Wordle 558 4/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
      🟨🟨🟨⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. To stop the migrants, all the French need to do is cut off the supply of dinghies and outboard motors. They don’t just appear from thin air on French soil.

  60. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c77cd667f51a2a19c3433006cc533e1b9966503e13bb426dfe584ed4eb1434c2.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6c2c00e146a14ac448db6b544ba8dd154d4d58fcfbbdb5720d3eddb1fdee7c36.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a8a269be1b27b85c88a3f52454e313872940b12a28b8ffa6b8b08cbe7924f575.png Roger Flint was born in Tideswell, Derbyshire in 1958. At age 16 he joined the Merchant Navy as a cadet officer navigator. After roaming the seven seas for seven years he left and joined the Derbyshire Constabulary as a police constable. A very popular and talented chap he quickly rose through the ranks despite not having a university degree nor any formal academic qualifications.

    In rapid time he became a Divisional Commander in the rank of Chief Superintendent. He was selected to front a team of hostage negotiators and he regularly gave seminars on that line of work. He also frequently deputised for the Assistant Chief Constable in his absence from duty.

    As a Divisional Commander he was well-liked and respected by all those under his command. Not for him sitting behind a desk pushing a pen over mountains of paperwork whilst issuing all manner of illogical diktats to his troops. He loved nothing more than going out on patrol with the shifts at weekends. New Year’s Eve on night patrol was a particular favourite and he never lost the zest for “feeling the collars” of scumbags. He would do everything that he expected the lower ranks to do and was always at the front (never the back) when the going got hot.

    In his private life he was a very keen and exceptionally fit sportsman. An uncompromising defender at football and a more than competitive squash player; and he ran a good number of miles every day of his life. His best friend was another police officer who never achieved higher rank than constable. This friend, Ian ‘Mac’, was a mutual friend of both Roger and me. I first knew ‘Mac’ when we both worked in the Contracts Departments at Markham’s in Chesterfield. When he learned that I had applied, successfully, to join the police he came to see me and asked countless questions since it was a career he had always fancied. Some months later I was surprised to see ‘Mac’ turn up for duty in the uniform of Special Constable. He told me that he wanted to give it a go to see how he felt. It wasn’t much later that he was successfully recruited as a regular.

    ‘Mac’ died of cancer back in 2009 and Roger gave the eulogy at his funeral. He kindly mentioned me in that speech stating that it was me who had given ‘Mac’ the impetus to join the job.

    When Roger retired from the police in 2011 he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal, a high award usually reserved for those at the very top. In his retirement he wrote a couple of books documenting his life and the jobs he had held.

    In his retirement, he and his wife travelled the world on a never-ending succession of holidays. He was also a fervent supporter of the private FaceBook forum for retired Derbyshire police officers. On the occasions that I had a letter published in the Daily Telegraph (on police matters), Roger would copy the letter onto that Facebook page for the information of those retirees who didn’t take the DT. He would invariably describe me as “One of our very own.”

    In August this year, Roger was hospitalised in London having being diagnosed with a ‘heart problem’. This was an astonishing event for him and all who knew him since he had been fighting fit all his life and had never failed a medical. He underwent a heart operation on December 12. On the day after the op, he contacted a former colleague for a chat but was insistent on asking how that other chap was. When asked he said that he had been struggling both physically and mentally since the op and was still ‘wired up’, but he remained optimistic.

    On December 27 Roger died! I and many others are eager to discover what the post mortem will discover about the death of a fighting-fit 64-year old with no previous illnesses or medical conditions on record.

    The Police FaceBook page has been inundated with warm tributes from all who knew him, both as a fellow officer and as the best boss they ever worked under. At the time of writing more than 300 tributes have been paid on that forum alone.

    1. I’m sorry for your loss, Grizz. Roger sounds like the kind of person seriously needed in all walks of life, and the absence of whom is leading the world to hell in a handcart.
      All our losses, in fact.

    3. My condolences, Grizz. Are post mortems still a thing? I was under the impression that ‘died suddenly’ was now all that was needed on the death certificate. Inquest? Nah – just get rid of the evidence…

      I bet Roger gets a good send-off. A faithful member of one of my choirs – Alan Hobbs – died on Christmas Eve 2014. He was a retired and much-loved PC with the Surrey force, though still working in a civilian capacity at Mount Browne HQ. He was also a server at Guildford Cathedral, and that’s where his funeral took place. Just as well, since none of our village churches could have accommodated the mourners. I’m sure the entire force were present. It was standing room only.

      1. It would be interesting to learn if Roger Flint had tested for COVID 19 and had any ‘vaccines’ and/ or ‘boosters’ …

    4. I don’t suppose it will happen, but it would be a wonderful tribute if the investigations into his death got to the bottom of what is happening.

    5. Was he jabbed? I had a late Christmas card this morning from a fellow art student (well, the runner with the cleft stick has a hard time travelling in North Wales), letting me know that after Covid jabs 1, 2 and 3 she had had episodes of “unexplained illness” so declined the 4th (a bit late putting two and two together, I thought!), then had Covid, but recovered. I am wondering how to phrase my reply so as not to cause offence 🙂

      1. Dear friend,
        So sorry to hear of your illness. I console myself that it could have been worse.
        It might have been me!
        Best wishes for a speedy recovery…

          1. “…she’s Welsh and a bit challenged in the sense of humour department”

            Fixed it for you, Connors.

  61. That’s me for today. A nice sunny one but a strong, chilly southerly wind. Rain tomorrow.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain

  63. Oooops ……
    Love the BTL comment.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/12/29/mans-20000-hidden-chimney-goes-smoke-when-wife-lights-fire/

    “Man’s €20,000 hidden in the chimney goes up in smoke when wife lights fire

    Italian homeowner hid the money in government bonds in his Rome apartment because he was worried about burglars

    29 December 2022 • 3:54pm

    An Italian man who hid €20,000 (£17,700) in his chimney was left distraught after his wife unwittingly lit a fire and destroyed it.

    The homeowner had hidden the money – in government bonds – because he was concerned about burglars breaking into his apartment in Rome.

    But the plan went disastrously awry when his wife, who was unaware of his cunning plan, decided to light a blazing log fire to bring a little Christmas cheer to their home.

    All the interest-bearing bonds issued by the Italian post office went up in smoke.

    Thought it would be safe place

    “When I saw the flames I nearly passed out,” the man told Il Messagero newspaper.

    The fireplace was rarely used and the bonds had been hidden there for some time.

    “I thought it would be a safe place where thieves would never think of looking. My wife didn’t know I’d hidden them there,” he said.

    “Each year, before we use the fire during the winter, I used to move them. This time I didn’t manage to do it in time.”

    Desperate to recoup his savings, the man contacted his brother who works for the post office.

    There is hope that if he kept the serial numbers of the bonds, the post office may be able to reissue them.

    “Having digested the shock, all that remains for the family is a tragicomic anecdote to tell their friends and relations,” commented Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper. ”

    Classic comment:
    “Italian homeowner hid the money in government bonds in his Rome apartment because he was worried about burglars”
    – given that the biggest thieves are the government and he purchased government bonds, his fear of burglars was misplaced.”

    1. I suspect that the bond certificates are recorded so he hasn’t lost a cent, but it makes a fine tale!

        1. Give me your billions, I’ll give you bearer bonds, we’ll just call them crypto currency, if that’s OK with you.
          ps
          Your money will vanish as will I…

    1. Bet you he ‘disappears’. No doubt plod will be on him like a shot. Any venue denied, should he try to speak out again, they’ll stop him.

      The woke Left want to re-write history and deny every fact going. Only then can they have power over you, for it’s own sake – not to do anything with it, just to control you. As Mr Fraser says, they are fascists. The Left never change. They still haven’t got over Hitler’s defeat, let alone Mao’s.

  65. Evening, all. Still not accomplishing much – bad weather blues, I suspect. All my get-up-and-go has got up and gone.

    2. Join the club, mate. I suspect it’s Mother Nature trying to make us all hibernate….hmmm…not a bad idea.

      1. I’ve been doing a lot of hibernating, Ann.

        It’s also a good way of suppressing unwelcome thoughts.

        1. It is the only way. They leap out and get me at any old time and refuse to depart, especially those cringe moments of my past life.

          3. Part and parcel of my agnostic beliefs.

            Each life has a lesson for you to learn. What have you learnt, Sos?

    4. I achieved the sawing up of most of the sycamore on t’other side of the pond, including lopping off the last bit of the main trunk that’s worth getting, only to see the bloody thing tumble down the bank into the chuffing pond!
      Will have to take a rope over tomorrow if weather permits and get the thing out! It’s about 3½’ by 10″ diameter.

        1. I will admit that after shifting several sack barrow fulls of logs, I fell asleep in the bath so then went to bed for an hour and a half.

          1. No chance, Bob of any help from me, I’m too old and knackered to undertake the hardiness you promote on a daily basis.

            Well done, old troop.

  66. Phew!
    After shifting most of the logs from t’other side of the pond, there are a few more than I thought, I helped myself to a bowl of my traditional post-Christmas broth.
    And promptly spilled some onto my wifi mouse and buggered it up!!

    Luckily, it was fairly easy to strip down and clean so I was able to get it going again.

    Why am I unsympathetic towards owners of electric vehicles?
    https://twitter.com/BeardedBob7282/status/1608543346716479491

    1. It is perfectly obvious that there are not enough charging points at the moment, so unless you use your EV purely as a city run-around and have your own charger off-road at home, you will always be suffering from ‘range anxiety’. I don’t have much sympathy for early-adopter EV owners who didn’t figure this out before they bought their car.

      1. Not enough charging points is the least of our worries. To replace petrol as a fuel would mean doubling our energy generating capacity. The state is hellbent on reducing it to make energy scarce.

        1. That will become apparent in a few years’ time. EV buyers now do not, I’m sure, think about the future but are tempted by ‘cheap’ electricity running costs at present and the thought that they should buy an electric car now as they will not be able to buy an ICE vehicle from 2030.

          1. When the intent is not to replace ICE vehicles with EVs but to remove your ability to drive where you want to, when you want to people might start realising how utter insane and drunk on power the state is.

    2. I’m not sure I need your sympathy, I added 199 miles range for a cost of £13.69 at my last charging session at home for my milk float.
      A full battery gives me about 320 miles range with my normal driving style in the summer and approximately 280 miles in the winter. To visit friends or family over Christmas would probably not necessitate a charge on the trip.
      800 miles would cost me about £55.
      Of course I am on a fixed rate deal which expires Jan 2024, costs will change then.

          1. I thought to wait before holding on to my VW T-ROC Four Motion automatic petrol vehicle. I waited to see the evolution of electric vehicles.

            I have concluded that EV’s are a waste of time and money.

          3. I am Cori not Connors, no matter.

            My vehicle is fabulous, great fuel consumption when driven responsibly, massive acceleration when required for passing bikers etc., great comfort etc.,

            Electric vehicles are not sustainable (to use a phrase so often levelled at us, the true environmentalists), the reason being that the batteries require rare earth minerals which as we speak are being exploited by child slave labour. Those batteries are costly to replace and have a very short life by comparison with the normal ‘service’ life of a vehicle.

            We are confronting pure evil in the WEF/WHO junket trying to reorder our world. They and the bankers in tow with them must be confronted and brought down before they inflict yet more damage on our societies.

        2. On a home charge about 5 hours. I treat the car just like my mobile phone, I put it on an overnight charge when it needs it, usually once a week when it is down to 20% state of charge in the battery and only recharge to 80%. If I am away for a few days as I was in the summer down in Cornwall I use the supercharger network, that takes about 15 mins to fully recharge. Sometimes it is a bit quicker, sometimes a bit slower, but on average 15 mins covers it. Then I move the car out of the charging bay to free it up for the next person and walk across to meet Mrs VVOF who has gone ahead and ordered my coffee.

          1. My Landrover takes about 5 mins to charge with a full tank and pay.
            I don’t think I’ll be changing my vehicle soon: as they say ‘time is money’ or in my case, comfort.

          2. Charging overnight at home is no discomfort to me, spending 15 mins on a trip is also no problem, I would need a toilet break and a coffee anyway.
            That said, individual choice is precious, it should be maintained.

          4. Good luck with all of that. Just wait until the charging rate goes sky-high and you will be charged for road miles used as well, and a charge for a VED.(Vehicle Excise Duty = Road Tax)

            Thankfully, I ain’t involved.

      1. Pele was part of probably the best team of a generation. Messi played in International teams that were nowhere near as good relatively.
        Without Messi, Argentina would have won nothing.
        I believe that without Pele the Brazilian teams would still have won, and that for me is the thing that tips my vote to Messi.

        4. It is difficult to rank footballers from different generations. When a boy I was mesmerised by Bristol City’s goal scorer John Atyeo. He played a few games for England and scored goals. I doubt anyone remembers his exploits.

          Likewise I loved watching Tony Currie at Bramall Lane in the early seventies, goal scorer extraordinaire. He too played a few games for England and scored goals. Few nowadays will recall the magic he brought to every match.

      1. NOTICE TO USERS IN FRANCE
        Because of French government demands to remove creators from our platform, Rumble is currently unavailable in France. We are challenging these government demands and hope to restore access soon.

      2. He makes the case for a pause in the mRNA vaccination rollout, calls for analysis of supposed benefits and points to the inherent dangers in injecting into the arm with no means of knowing if an artery is nicked or whether the injection finds its way into the bloodstream and thence the main organs.

    2. Geographic bans are stupid. Just change your DNS or use a VPN. Yes, big government wants to ban them. The entire problem with the Left is that they are stupid and think they’re clever. They force through stupid laws and the world moves on, leaving them in the dust of history.

  70. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/23/great-european-energy-crisis-isnt-yet-wont-end-leaders-take/

    Ms Samuel is confused. The state is doing precisely what it set out to – to make energy scarce, expensive and force people to use less of it at massive cost. By reducing output it can claim it has achieved it’s goals – stuff the consequences for the little people, they don’t matter. There are 7 figure non-jobs pontificating to be had.

    I don’t understand why journalists don’t tell the truth: the intent is to cripple the country and force rationing. It’s as simple as that. Stuff the future of Kardashev progression, the state is using the lie as a tax scam for it’s own benefit.

    1. But watch the voters choose red or blue at the next election. The only way to stop the state is to depose the state.

    2. MSM doesn’t tell the truth coz they’re in on it. All controlled. Can’t remember the last time I read any real. Wes (tho I only am able to look at the front page of the Daily Fail and Express)
      Edit: any real news (not any real Wes)

  71. Bugger. Flight delay about two hours (so far) giving ETA 02:00 into snow, ice & freezing rain. Hope the car starts. Nice n slippery roads on the way home, too. Oh, good.

    2. Only two hours? South West airlines in the US have thrown up their hands in despair and just about stopped flying for now.

      I really don’t miss flying for work.

      Good luck on getting home

      1. 12 minutes out now, over Kent. Between Canterbury & Maidstone, at under 10.000 ft., and slowing.

    5. Good luck, Paul.

      I’ve had many flights into Oslo but never delayed. I can only wish you well travelled.

    6. Hope you eventually get away.
      One of the reasons I am so glad I don’t have to worry about air travel anymore.
      Be safe.

    1. Yep – this is the single intent of big government. It wants to take your money so it can remove any power you have.

      The Left know this, thus they infest big government and set about making it bigger, less efficient, less effective and thus clawing for more money. It is a vicous circle of thoroughly evil people desperately trying to take away everything you have.

      1. Would that be the soft left wearing blue rosettes or the hard left wearing red rosettes?

  73. Well I’m cream crackered! Just cooked, served and eaten a birthday dinner roast beef, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, broccoli, etc, some bits of pud and mince pies warming in the oven, dishwasher loaded, just sat down. Quite a nice red wine that elder son brought with him on Christmas day.

    3. Reminder, I must go and get a slug of St Auger and mature cheddar from our local Co-op.

      Only real shop in the town but not too adventurous in the product range. Ah, well.

  74. I’m off to grab a nightcap, I had my first glass of wine for a week earlier this evening, it’s been tasting like vin-degar. I think my taste buds were wrecked by the intravenous treatment i had in hospital.
    And then I’m off to bed. To reflect on the good news from our middle son and his lovely wife. They are expecting, too early to identify brother or sister for their nearly three-year old little boy.
    Good night all. 😴

  77. Goodnight, all. Pleasant dreams (if you can blot out the image that Bob of Bonsall put up without a spoiler!).

  80. Going to finish my glass of plonk and head to bed. MH is doing so much better- thank god. Long may it continue.

    1. People such as Boris Johnson, Sunak, Cameron etc are considered to be highly intelligent. We might be better off with a few African goatherders in charge.

  84. 03:10 in bed!
    My own bed… Wonderful!
    No problems extricating the car from snow, except for standing in a puddle…

      1. Hello Elsie. I can’t sleep, or rather I can’t get back to sleep. 30 Dec is the equivalent of 3.00 am in the morning…..

        1. Hi, poppiesmum. I find that it is a waste of time (and exhausting) to toss and turn in bed unable to go back to sleep. So I only try for a short period, then get up – whatever the time – and do something productive. Similarly, if I am reading a book and struggling to register what I have just read several times over, my conclusion is that – whatever the time – I need a short nap. So that is what I do: get up when I can’t sleep or have a nap when I can’t register what I am reading, regardless of the time of night or day.

          1. Yes – in the end I get up too and try to do something to break the ‘thoughts:toss:turn:toss:thoughts’ loop/cycle I get myself into. It usually takes a couple of hours to wind down when I do get up. Perhaps I should just get the ironing board out and do some ironing with some Gershwin on the CD player, rather than meandering through Twitter and dipping into TCW (irresistible but terrifying!). I am always trying to find out is going on, I suppose it is a defence mechanism kicking in and a way to protect my family – forewarned being forearmed. The problem being family doesn’t want to know!

            Like you, I sleep when I can, if I need to. 15-20 minutes is the average nap time and usually if I’m reading.

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